The present invention relates to a protective glove and, more particularly, to a protective sports glove having one or more vents to improve circulation to a wearer's hand within the glove, while still providing adequate impact protection.
In many contact sports, such as lacrosse or hockey, sticks are elements of the game. A player's hands, wrists, and lower arms are especially vulnerable to injury when being checked by another player's stick. For this reason, players typically wear padded gloves to protect their hands, wrists and lower arms during play.
Typical gloves for such contact sports generally include a hand portion joined with finger portions and a thumb portion. The hand portion, finger portions, and thumb portion each have a respective palm portion and a dorsal portion. The dorsal portion usually is covered with multiple protective pads to protect the dorsal side of the hand from forceful impacts and blows.
The protective pads on the dorsal portions are thick, and frequently include an air impervious rigid plate or other material. Accordingly, the dorsal portion of many gloves restricts air flow to the wearer's hand inside the glove. This can lead to excessive perspiration and general discomfort to the wearer during extended play and/or play in hot or humid conditions.
Some manufacturers have attempted to solve the air flow issue by providing vents that extend from the interior of the glove to the exterior of the glove, sometimes within seams between pads, or through the pads themselves. This construction usually is a compromise because the vents must be relatively small so that the hand is still protected by enough padding. Where the vents are large, and the padding is significantly reduced, the likelihood of injury to the hand might be increased. Thus, there is a trade-off between enough padding and sufficient venting to provide adequate ventilation.